Kurdistan Regional Government
WED, 22 MAY 2013 07:46 Erbil, GMT +3
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Sweden’s outgoing Ambassador to Iraq thanks Kurdistan Region for strengthening ties

THU, 28 JUN 2012 20:22 | KRG.org

Erbil, Kurdistan Region – Iraq (DFR.krg.org) The Kurdistan Regional Government’s Head of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa, yesterday in Erbil met with Sweden’s Ambassador to Iraq, who was on a farewell tour of the Kurdistan Region.

Minister Mustafa welcomed Ambassador Carl Magnus Nesser and thanked the Swedish government for their contribution to the Kurdistan Region’s development. He said, “We are grateful for your support and pleased to have witnessed the improvement in relations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Sweden during your tenure as Ambassador, which culminated in the opening of the Swedish Section Office here in Erbil earlier this year”.

The departing Ambassador was accompanied by a delegation from the Embassy in Baghdad and their office in Erbil, and he expressed his gratitude to the KRG and the Department of Foreign Relations for assisting the Swedish Government and businesses with their efforts in the Region.

Both sides discussed ways of strengthening bilateral relations in the areas of culture, trade, education, and infrastructure. Ambassador Nesser said, “This is the beginning, we aim to establish a stronger presence in this Region. Swedish businesses are interested in Kurdistan and they want to use the Region as a gateway towards the rest of Iraq”.

Minister Mustafa welcomed this involvement saying, “We likewise look forward to building further people to people and business to business relations to compliment the already strong government ties that we enjoy”. Adding, “As an advanced country in Europe, there is a lot that we can learn from Sweden’s democratic experience, their systems, and their civil society institutions”.

Minister Mustafa and Ambassador Nesser also touched on the political crisis in Iraq, with the Minister highlighting the significant concessions the Region has made to preserve the unity of Iraq.

“We have continued to participate in the federal government in spite of the fact that the constitution and the power sharing agreement which allowed the current government to be formed have been largely, if not completely, ignored. We have shown extreme patience in regard to the outstanding disagreements between us,” he said.

“We remain committed to a federal, democratic and pluralistic system in Iraq, but this can only be achieved by reliance on the constitution and the rule of law. We have suffered too much under the previous dictatorship in Iraq to become a part of a new one,” he concluded.

Also discussed were current political and economic issues in the Middle East, particularly the current unrest in Syria. Minister Mustafa said, “The KRG wants an effective and credible transition, and the future of Syria is for the Syrians to decide but we desire a democratic government to equally serve all the people of Syria and it is important to recognize the rights of the various ethnic and religious minorities living there”.

Ambassador Nesser expressed his appreciation for the KRG’s view on the ongoing situation and highlighting the informative meeting that he and Sweden’s Foreign Minister had on political developments in Iraq and the situation in Syria with President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani last week.

The Swedish government officially opened an Embassy Section Office and a Swedish Trade Council Office in the Kurdistan Region in April of this year. Currently Sweden provides assistance to the Disabled Society Organization in Kurdistan and there is already an exchange programme in place which opens the doors for Kurdish and Swedish students to mutually benefit from different education systems and gain intercultural knowledge and understanding.

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